Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway is the third entry in the Brothers in Arms series of video games which follow a squad of men, of the 101st Airborne Division (506th Parachute Infantry Regiment) led by the player-character Matt Baker, through the larger Allied Operations in World War II (with Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood being a spin-off from the main story which is set in the same time line as Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, except seen through the eyes of Corporal Joe "Red" Hartsock, and with a slightly extended time line, who is a member of Baker's Squad). This game once again puts players in the role of Staff-Sergeant Matt Baker during Operation Market Garden in the later stages of WWII. The game will be released on the PlayStation 3, Windows, and the Xbox 360 in August 2008. The game has many new features, including the ability to command a further squad from a selection of new specialized units (bazooka teams, machine gun teams, mortar teams, as well as radio teams with which to call in artillery and air support). When a command is issued, the player model uses hand signals to issue the command to his squad, just like the previous games in the series. The player also has the ability to take cover behind objects, in a manner similar to Rainbow Six Vegas, which is an integral part of the games strategy. The game is built on the Unreal Engine 3 and the PC version can take advantage of the features in DirectX 10 which allows for an enhanced graphical experience. History and setting Operation Market Garden was a plan devised by Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein. The plan was to send in three divisions of Parachute Infantry, two of the U.S. Army (101st Airborne Division and 82nd Airborne Division) and one of the British Army (1st Airborne Division). These divisions would land in The Netherlands, behind enemy lines, and secure three bridges at Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem. The British XXX Corps would then make a rapid advance along connecting roads and link up with their Comrades in Arnhem (the furthest bridge from the front line), this would then cut the German line and leave them very vulnerable to attack. It would get the Allies over the Rhine and hopefully into Berlin by Christmas 1944. The operation was executed on 17th September 1944, four months after Operation Overlord of the previous games in the series. Unfortunately, whilst initially successful (but with drawbacks and large delays) with secured bridges at both Eindhoven and Nijmegen, the well equipped Panzer Division stationed at Arnhem proved too much for the (comparatively) modestly equipped British 1st Airborne Division. Supply drops frequently missed target, which made it difficult for the British in Arnhem to survive as they could not re-arm and thus found it difficult to fend off the attacking Germans until XXX Corps arrived. Again, unfortunately, XXX Corps never arrived. The British Armour reached Nijmegen and decided it would be too risky, considering the overwhelming German forces stationed just up the road. Rescue operations were staged to get the surrounded British soldiers back to safety. However, of the 10600 British Servicemen who dropped on 17th September, only 2398 were left.Battle of Arnhem - Operation Market Garden What made matters worse was that because the position of the Allied troops was along one stretch of linked roads, the inevitable (and expectedly swift) German counter attacks were fierce, locking the Allies onto a narrow stretch of Dutch land which extended beyond the previous Front Line. The narrow stretch leading up to Eindhoven (which the 101st Airborne Division had to defend from counter-attack whilst XXX Corps made its way up the road) is what became known as "Hell's Highway", and that is where this game derives its name from. Staff-Sergeant Matt Baker is a squad leader in the 101st Airborne Division. Him and characters from the previous game are reassigned to Fox Company's special recon unit before the drop into The Netherlands. Therefore this game will follow the 101st's assault and securing of Eindhoven, and the subsequent defence of the surrounding area from German counter attacks. Characters *Staff-Sergeant Matt Baker: The player character, and squad leader. Provides monologues throughout the game showing an insight into the development of his brotherly relationships with his men. *Staff-Sergeant Joe "Red" Hartsock: So named for his fiery red hair, Hartsock began as a Corporal back in Brother's in Arms: Road to Hill 30. He was promoted at the end of the Hill 30 game to Sergeant, becoming a squad leader himself. Matt Baker does not lead Red in Hell's Highway, instead Red is a Sergeant with a full squad of his own who will fight alongside Baker, being supported by and supporting Baker in certain missions of the game. In the demo, Red is a Staff Sergeant. *Corporal Sam Corrion: A Corporal in Baker's squad. Taking direct orders from Baker, Corrion leads the squad's assault team. Rumored and confirmed features *It has been confirmed in a gameplay demo that Baker, Corrion, Courtland, McCreary, Zanovich, Hartsock, Paddock, Campbell, McConnel, Marsh, and Winchell will return. *Civilians are now included in the game, but they cannot be shot. *Matt Baker now has the ability to command heavy weapons teams. In the E3 trailer, he is shown ordering a bazooka round to be fired upon an 88 mm cannon. He can also make use of machine gun squads, mortar teams and a radio man who can call in artillery strikes or air support. *There is a new feature called Brotherhood Moments where the player's character is shortly taken over by the computer and catches one of the player's fallen comrades. "Bro-Mos" are meant to show the bonds between the fighting men of the time period. *The player's weapon swings around more realistically as it would in real life instead of just staying centered (or moving slightly). This is due to the new camera system that Gearbox describes as a third-person camera placed inside the player's character's head. This means that both the camera and weapon can work with the whole avatar instead of a fixed camera and disembodied arms holding a gun. Because of that Baker's limbs will be more closely tied to the game physics. *The player can now go prone as well as crouch and stand. Only crouching and standing were available in the previous games of the series. *On most of the missions there will be no objective marker, which is different from most other shooters. Instead the player will have to rely on clues presented in-game as they move towards their target. The ten-minute demonstration showed examples of this. The player had the objective of destroying two German 88 mm cannons but did not know exactly where they were. Over the horizon were flak puffs, and when a group of U.S. planes flew over, one was shot down, suggesting the position of the objective. Also, as the player got closer to the position, there was a German on a rooftop, acting as a spotter for the gun placements. The player will need to be able to recognize hints like these to succeed. *The characters in the series are set to become more developed, each with their own personal history, characteristics and habits. *Cutscenes have become more detailed and realistic. *There is a slight possibility that if this game shows the 101st Airborne in the Netherlands in the 8th of October, the player could witness the death of Colonel "Jumpy" Johnson of the 502nd as well as that of Lieutenant Colonel Robert G. Cole. *An interesting note about the multiplayer in the new BIA is that the player will have the option of fighting on a campaign map with a friend. The player and a friend will fight over territories and then gain positional advantages to take hold of Europe. *New realistic animations include the player's squadmates tripping and falling during combat while others will help them up. *Hell's Highway will include a cover system that is similar to Rainbow Six: Vegas; the screen will indicate the player's level of suppression, similar to the circular supression icon aobve the heads of enemies. When the player exposes himself from cover, the screen will start to darken into a red color, with safe cover remaining clear. However, once safe behind cover, the screen will clear up again and resume as normal. This will only happen if threats are in the immediate area. *There will be hallucinations, delusions and flashbacks about the character's exploits during the first two BIA games, some of the involving characters such as Pvt. Kevin Leggett and other characters from the previous two games who were killed in action. *A slow motion effect will be added when the player kills enemies with a grenade, although it was said that it will not be overdone to avoid being too unrealistic. *Some objects in the game are destructible, meaning covers can be destroyed with repeated heavy fire or explosives. For example, picket fences can be shot up and destroyed by a Thompson submachine gun, while heavier cover like sandbag emplacements can only be taken out by the player's bazooka team. *The player's squad will not immediately attack the enemy. Instead he will have to order when to fire on sight and when to fire on command. *The player can pick up machine guns, such as an MG 42, and fire it from the hip or set it up on cover (such as low walls). *Germans will be able to move machine guns around as well, working much in the same way as the player's mobile machine gun crews. *10-15% of the game will take course indoors with Baker separated from the rest of his squad. *New Multiplayer experience with dozens of players on each side and squad-based gameplay. Multiplayer Little has been said and almost nothing confirmed in regards to the Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway multiplyer. However, in recent 'hands-on' previews of the game, that the multiplayer will feature "dozens" of players online at once. Taken from a recent gamespot article (4-18-2008), "We were able to confirm that Hell's Highway will include multiplayer modes, but all we know so far is that it will feature squad-based gameplay and dozens of player on each side." External links *Official website *Direct link to the Full E3 Video Demonstration - WMV, 108mb (Right-Click, Save As) (stream) *Same video, except in 720p (1280x720) - WMV, 800mb (Link takes you to a list of areas to download from) (torrent) *Trailer From Ubiday 2007